Here is my little story with this little demon that is pityriasis rosea. I am a hypocondric and I have anxiety, needless to say this was a very difficult disease to go through. It's so hard to understand and it progresses slowly.
TL;DR: Tanning seems to work. Go tanning asap and find out if it works for you.
Week 1
I notice I am scratching my hips after getting out of the shower. a few days later a dozen of small patches appear on my abdomen. They look like mosquito bites, they itch slightly. I get worried, I thought they were flea or bed bug bites. My flea trap turned out unsuccessful so I then thought it might be an allergic reaction. I started to take Benadryl, it seemed to help slightly. The patches start to spread slowly. I go see a pharmacist who recommends that I go see a GP.
Week 2
GP diagnoses me with pityriasis rosea, even though there is no herald patch. She tells me to just wait it out. I can't accept that so I google around some alternative treatments. I start taking cold showers since hot water exacerbates the redness and itching. I started taking daily supplements of vitamin C & D. I tried the head & shoulders regimen, I tried aloes, coconut oil, zinc ointment. Nothing is really working. The patches spread up my torso, down to the hips, and arms.
Week 3
I had read that tanning might help. Now being kind of a nerdy guy I had never done that and I obviously didn't fit in the typical clientele of a tanning salon, and with all the bad things we hear about tanning I was quite stressed out about going there. But I built up the courage to go anyway. The first session I did 5 minutes in a stand up bed. About 2-3 hours later the patches were way redder, but the next morning it seemed to have gotten better. I give it another try 2 days later. Same thing, got way redder but the next morning it had gotten quite better than before the tanning. It was working! The rash was still spreading down my inner thighs and onto my inner arms, and even in my armpits. I did another tanning session 2 days later.
Week 4
I did another 3 tanning sessions 2 days apart, trying to expose my inner thighs and inner arms to the light, as they were covered with the fresher rashes. It seemed to work, but not as much. It looks like when the scabs enter the healing process the uv light does not help as much. A dozen patches scabbed on my inner thighs.
Week 5
I stop the tanning sessions. There doesn't seem to be any new rashes. I take my first hot shower in a couple weeks. the hot water brings back some of the redness but it goes away.
Now into week 8, it's about 95% gone. I have some scar marks on my inner thighs that are still going away slowly.